Published 4:00 am, Monday, July 23, 2007

Photo: MURAD SEZER

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan greet their supporters outside of the party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, late Sunday, July 22, 2007. Turkey's Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party won parliamentary elections by a big margin Sunday in a contest that had pitted the government against opponents warning of a threat to secular traditions. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer) less

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan greet their supporters outside of the party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, late Sunday, July 22, 2007. Turkey's Islamic-rooted ruling ... more

2007-07-23 04:00:00 PDT Istanbul -- Turkish voters handed the Islamist-influenced ruling party a decisive victory in parliamentary elections Sunday, rewarding it for stewardship of the country's robust economy but raising the specter of bitter new quarrels over the feared erosion of Turkey's secular traditions.

With more than 99 percent of the votes counted, the Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish initials AKP, garnered about 48 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results -- a substantial increase over the 34 percent it attained in elections five years ago when it came to power.

The vote could influence Turkey's drive to become the first Muslim-dominated country to join the European Union. While secularist parties have been cool to the idea, the AKP has vowed to press ahead with that bid despite early rebuffs.

"With this vote, Turkey said no to insularity, no to closing in on itself," said Cengiz Candar, a prominent political columnist.

Moderate and officially secular Turkey, a NATO member, is viewed as a strategic bridge to a Muslim world that is increasingly mistrustful of the West. Successive Turkish governments have maintained close ties with Muslim neighbors even while pursuing divergent policies such as a cordial relationship with Israel.

The election results represented a crushing defeat for Turkey's secular-minded main opposition party, which trailed with about 20 percent of the vote. But because of rules governing the allocation of parliamentary seats, the opposition still will have some capacity to stymie the ruling party's initiatives, including the AKP's drive to have one of its own elected as the country's president -- the same battle that triggered these early elections.

Turkey's powerful military, which considers itself the guardian of the secular system put in place 84 years ago, has made none-too-subtle threats to intervene if it believes the ruling party is acting in conflict with the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution.

Perhaps mindful of those tensions, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to strike a conciliatory tone in his victory speech, paying homage to Kemal Ataturk, the republic's founder, and offering assurances that the party's agenda is centered on the pro-business, free-market policies that have generated unprecedented economic prosperity since it took office.

"We would like to see Turkey as one, as united," the 53-year-old leader said to supporters who cheered and waved the red national flag. "Our goal is to realize the aim of Ataturk, to carry our country to the levels of modern civilization."

Celebrants took to the streets near AKP headquarters in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, setting off fireworks and handing out sweets.

During the party's tenure, inflation has been tamed, annual growth has run to 7 percent, unemployment has leveled off, and the national currency has strengthened. The economic boom has brought a middle-class lifestyle within reach of millions of Turks -- including many in the party's religiously conservative core constituency.

To many observers, the election marked another milestone in the development of Turkey's brand of political Islam. The AKP is an offshoot of a more rigorously Islamist party, but Erdogan and other senior party figures have made little effort to bring personal piety into the public sphere.